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Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Birthday Art & Riley Spread

***The artwork from my last post is still available as of Thursday evening! You know you want it...!!***

As I mentioned a couple posts ago, I try to do a piece of art every year on my birthday. This year was no exception. It has been a BIG year for me, and there was a lot I wanted to remember. There are few times in my life that I am just incredibly proud of myself, but this past year is one of those times. As many of you know, it's been a life-changing year for me. I got pregnant, signed a book deal, found out we were moving across the country, packed and moved, wrote a book, and had a baby, all while taking care of Riley. Everything that happened was positive, but that didn't take away from the fact that it was also incredibly difficult. In the future, I will look back at my 34th year and realize how strong I can be, and that's a nice feeling. So I wanted this year's artwork to reflect all of that.

I sort of separated each thing out, and made different sections within this sort of "tower". The top piece says "book" and "good job!", the second piece says "Baby's Birth", the third says "mother and father and two brothers" to signify the family I took care of, the fourth says "another place to live" and "35" since I turned 35, and the last has the date of my birthday. At the very top, above the arch shape, are candles (3 and 5 for 35) and the word "proud".

I had a hard time with the piece- in fact, right at the end, I sort of did a 180, and changed the whole color scheme! It used to be mostly pink! I should have taken a picture... But in the end, I really like it, and am happy with all that it stands for.

Then, I also did a spread for Riley. We have officially made the transition from crib to toddler bed with him, so I did pages to commemorate that step. Again, this one didn't come real easily. I swear, I'm in this weird rut right now, where I'm not liking a lot of my pieces. I hope it passes soon!

I used some vintage puzzle pieces and a photo of him sleeping in his bed for the first time. The photo isn't the greatest, which is one reason I think I'm not liking the page as well-it was a difficult photo to work with. But, oh well, the page is good enough, and at least it tells the story I wanted to tell.

We've been doing some painting and decorating in my studio, so soon I'll be able to show some photos of that...

2 comments:

I love your Birthday art! Happy Belated Birthday!! I have a surprise for you that I found last week and would love to send it to you and email a photo to you to make sure you want it:) It totally goes with the theme of the chairs you made for Riley's room. Your newest piece for sale is fabulous! I really love the color combinations and how you wrapped the sides. I DO totally want it, but went a little nuts on EBAY last week and my husband would kill me:) Love, Jamie

You can contact me at my email: demiller2@sbcglobal.netand I will send you a photo of your surprise!